Doug
Doug is an American animated sitcom created by Jim Jinkins and co-produced by his studio, Jumbo Pictures, and the French studio Ellipse Programmé. Doug centers on its title character, Douglas "Doug" Funnie (Billy West), who takes the role of the common child. The series lampoons several topics, including puppy love, bullying, and rumors. Many episodes center around Doug's attempts to woo fellow classmate Patti Mayonnaise. Doug originally aired on Nickelodeon in the United States. It, along with Rugrats and The Ren & Stimpy Show, comprised the original three Nicktoon''s, premiering simultaneously on August 11, 1991. After the series originally ended in 1994, production moved to Disney and the series aired on ABC as part of the Disney's One Saturday Morning programming block. The Disney version aired from 1996 to 1999 and spawned a feature film. On July 25, 2011, Jinkins' orginal version became syndicated on TeenNick as part of its ''The '90s Are All That block. It and Clarissa Explains It All were replaced by Hey Arnold! and Rocko's Modern Life in their timeslot beginning on September 6, 2011. Plot The series takes place in the fictitious town of Bluffington and deals with the life and imagination of Doug, his dog Porkchop, and good friends Skeeter Valentine and Patti Mayonnaise. Doug has recently moved to Bluffington from Bloatsburg. Most episodes start with Doug writing in his journal about recent events in his life, with the main action of the episode being a flashback of the events as Doug narrates them. Doug faces all sorts of problems, catching a nematoad, doing a biography on 2 eccentric, brainiac twins, having his sister host the Founder's Day parade, and running for class treasurer. In addition, all the normal responsibilities a teen has at this stage in their life (relationships, school, earning money, etc.) Doug's older sister, Judy, is a constant source of conflict. She is a dramatic actor who always wears a purple beret and sunglasses, even in the house. Doug is the supposed bane of her existence, as his childlike interests annoy her very much. A theme in the series is Doug's alternate comic book personality, Quailman. He has a belt worn around his head, and clean briefs over his pants, but is otherwise identical to Doug. Skeeter has an analogous character named the Silver Skeeter (a parody of Marvel's Silver Surfer). Doug's imagination as he reacts to various situations in his life helps to provide premises for the stories. One episode dealing with a visit to his dentist, for example, contains homages to Goldfinger and Marathon Man. Another theme in the series regarded Doug's feelings for Patti, with whom he had fallen in love upon first setting eyes on her. Some episodes focused on this, and involved either Doug attempting to get closer to Patti, or his frantic attempts to stop her discovering his feelings . The story ends on an optimistic hope for the two when Patti asks Doug out on a date. Notable in the series' character design is the frequent use of unusual names and skin colors. Doug is of standard Caucasian tone, whereas his mother is purple, Skeeter is blue, Patti is tan with blonde hair, and Roger is green. Characters Main Characters * Douglas "Doug" Yancy Funnie: Performed by Billy West from 1991 to 1994, and Thomas McHugh from 1996 to 1999. Often is writing his thoughts in his journal, which he lost in one episode. He does not like his journal being called a "diary", possibly finding it too feminine. Has many alter-egos. He hates his middle name, although Mr. Schilaki believed that Yancey is the "good Doug" in the episode where Doug was made to look like a troublemaker. Also, Judy referred to Doug as Yancey when she had her boyfriend over in one episode, casting Doug as her butler. * Patricia "Patti" Mayonnaise: The girl on whom Doug has a crush. In some thought sequences, she is often depicted as older and/or single or married as Doug's future wife. She is apparently from the South, as she has a distinct Southern accent. * Mosquito "Skeeter" Valentine: Doug's best friend who, despite having a very high IQ, does not show it. He is famous for his "honk honk" sound. He has blue skin. * Roger M. Klotz: The bully in the series. He lives with his divorced mother and cat, Stinky in a trailer park, they became rich in the Disney version. His rival was Percy Femur, Lamar Bone's nephew. He has green skin. Doug has created many alter-egos for him, and he is the main antagonist in the Quailman comics. According to the final episode of the Nickelodeon series, Roger was in 5th grade for three straight years, indicating he was held back. Since the average 5th grader is 11, Roger is probably 13 in the series. This also indicates that in the Disney series, he is 14-16. * Porkchop: Doug's canine companion. * Beebe Bluff: A spoiled rich girl; friend of Patti's, Doug's, and Skeeter's. Beebe lives in a huge mansion, with her father and mother. Butlers/maids also tend to her every need. Beebe is very snobby and resembles Pebbles from The Flintstones. * Mr. Phil Funnie: Doug/Judy's dad, Theda's husband. Phil is a department store photographer. He is the head of the household, and is not afraid to put his foot down. * Judith "Judy" Anastasia Funnie: Doug's artistic sister. She is a stereotypical "hippie/beatnik" who loves speaking in dramatic tones, and acting out her emotions. She has a extreme liking towards any Shakespearian work, and has taken a liking to Roger at one point (Yikes!). Judy is often in her room, preforming plays, or listening to soft jazz. She has directed several of most of Doug's school plays, including the Founder's day parade. Judy is in Bluffington High School, because she eventually gets her driver's license. Eventually becomes more mellowed out and relaxed in Disney's Doug. * Mrs. Theda Funnie: Phil's wife, Doug/Judy's mom. Theda works for the recycling center, she collects cans and seperate the recyclables. She has a soft, light voice, but she is not afraid to yell. * Mr. Buddy "Bud" Dink: Doug's spend-thrift neighbor, whom Doug often turns to for advice. Known for his obnoxious Goofy-esque laugh and frequent new purchases of strange devices, always commenting that they were "very expensive." Also was Doug's scoutmaster for many episodes. Bud also has a fear of heights, due to a tree climbing incident. * Mrs. Tipping "Tippy" Dale Dink: Mr. Dink's wife, and later the mayor of Bluffington. Known for her deadpan reactions to her husband's stupidity. Secondary characters * Ms. Wingo: Doug's elementary school teacher. * Stinky: Roger's spoiled female feline companion. Orignally thought to be male, but then had kittens. * Mr. William "Bill" Bluff III: The richest man in town, father of Beebe, and descendant of the town founder. * Robert "Bob" White: The former mayor of Bluffington, who later becomes the middle school principal. Constantly asserting "Vote for Me!", even to elementary schoolers. He does not make major decisions, which often lead to others making it for him. Mayor White thinks his only responsibility is to "sit in his chair and be the mayor". He often consults his wife on what he should do. His son is Willy. * William "Willie" White: Willy is the dark-skinned, blue hair, porky friend of Roger. He is a major ditz, and often starts talking by saying "Duuuh" followed by something ridiculous. Although he is the Mayor's son, he still follows around with Roger and his gang. Willy lost the class treasurer race against Doug, the same day his dad lost his Mayor position to Tippy Dink. * Albert "Al"/Moose "Moo" Sleech: Genius, yet socially inept twin brothers. Their father runs a bakery in their own basement, and they have a dog named Cosmos. Al and Moo love to play video games, and are system hackers. They speak in monotonus tones, and are rarely seen apart. * Lamar Bone: The elementary school vice-principal, and later promoted to the same job at the middle school. Depicted as the stereotypical "mean principal" of both schools; he even comes across as physically abusive at times. Likes to yodel and clog-dance on occasion. Mr. Bone's nephew is Percy Femur, who attended their school for a few days. Sometimes breaks away from the stereotype that he has developed into a more caring nature, but it's very rare. Doug has created many alter-egos for him such as "Robobone" and "The Rulemeister".Mr. Bone speaks with a Don Knotts-esque voice. * The Beets: A band from Liverpool, that Doug and Skeeter are big fans of, that later breaks up and go solo in the Disney version. They are a parody of the Beatles, with their last album being Let It Beet, a reference to Let It Be. Members are Monroe Yodler, Wendy Nespalm, Flounder, and Chap Lipman. The Beets will eventully break up due to a fight over a banana. According to an interview with Chap Lipman, they used to practice on trash cans and any other things they could find to get a steady beat. After the initial beat they came up with the lyrics to "Killer Tofu". DVD The complete first & second seasons are available for Burn on Demand purchase on Amazon. Trivia *Sky Davis is a parody of Michael Jordan, as Sky Davis Air Jets are a parody of Nike Air Jordans *The people and language of Yakistonia are referred to as "Yakistonesian" rather than "Yakistonian" *Although the Beets are a parody of the Beatles, they have a style more like that of the Ramones External links * Doug at the Big Cartoon DataBase *Episode Guide at TV.com * de:Doug Category:Nicktoons Category:Programs broadcast by YTV Category:Nickelodeon Category:Shows on Nickelodeon Category:Television Shows Category:Animated shows on Nickelodeon